Slayers Past
by Claudia C18
Summary: She had seen this man before. He had been there, so many times. So many years. Who was he? What was he after? And who was Lina Inverse? She had to find out. About him, about his goals, about the people he knew...there was so much hiding behind that smile. She had to get his story.
1. When I saw you I knew it was destiny

"Hey, boss...can I talk to you?"

The silver haired man put down his glasses and looked up from the morning print draft at her.

"Make it quick, Lucy."

The red-haired girl smiled nervously and stood in front of the door to his office, her hand on the knob.

"Well, today's the 168th Annual International Affairs conference and, well, I see they forgot to give me an entrance pass."

The man gave her a sharp glance then put his glasses back on and continued checking the material in his hands.

"We're the press Lucy. If they don't want us in, we go by force. Who cares about an entrance pass?"

The girl stared at him in disbelief.

"Sir, the staff won't let anyone in without a pass! Besides, even Toby got one"

"Then use Toby's." came the uninterested reply.

"Switch with each other, I don't care. You're just the photographer. Take a few snaps of this and leave. Why do you care about this conference anyway?"

"Well, sir, it's the first time that the conference is being held in my hometown. A lot of important world leaders will be there… it makes me kind of excited to see how the fates of the world are decided for us, you know?" the girl said while looking to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"You're interested in politics?"

"Y-yea…kind of…more like...I'm interested in power"

The man lifted his gaze from the paper to look at her again, but didn't interrupt her.

"More specifically, I like the idea of power. I want to know how powerful people view the world. How they talk, how they act, how they think…how their decisions shape the future of millions…it's like being in the presence of superior beings...it feels overwhelming and enticing!"

"A young person fascinated by politics...heh… and a woman no less. Never thought I'd meet one of you!" he chuckled to himself.

"Very well, if you're that much into it, I'll call the organizers to get you a full pass for the event." he added, waving her off with one hand.

The girls' eyes lit up and a large smile grew from ear to ear.

"Thank you, sir!"

The girl opened the door and turned around to leave.

"Oh and Lucy" the man called after her.

"Yes?" she asked, grabbing the closing door in front of her.

"I want you to give me your review of the event after this. I'm curious to read about it from your perspective. Who knows, maybe Toby could use some of that for his article."

The girl nodded happily and swung the door closed behind her.

* * *

Lucy sat down in the press section, her hands gripped tightly on the camera. She was excited to be here, but more than anything, she was excited at her boss' proposal.

' _My first published article'_ she thought. Even though the chance was small, she didn't care. She still wanted to believe her writing will get the recognition it deserved.

Even though she was hired as a photographer, she always knew, the reason she applied was to see her name on a world-changing artilce. Her interest in politics also stemmed from that.

Truth be told, even though she was only Toby's assistant, she was the one who did all the research for his articles. She longed to have her name go down in history for her work, but so far, she was always in his shadow. She liked Toby, but she felt like she deserved better for all the time she put into helping him meet his deadlines.

Maybe it was jealousy that brought her here? Of who, exactly?

She watched the debate, but it all felt like background noise. She detached herself from reality, her mind going off into a dream about her future. One where the people behind the desks were the ones asking HER opinions on the matter and she was looking down on them smugly.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when a loud clapping noise erupted from the audience as the president finished his speech. She didn't catch what he said, but the crowd seemed to agree with him.

"Now, are there any questions?" he asked into his microphone.

Lucy took a couple of snapshots as a bunch of hands raised one after the other and the chatter in the press section started getting louder and louder around her.

The president smiled at the eager bunch and glanced around the hall at the animated participants. Then his smile disappeared and he lightly bit his lower lip.

As if waiting for everyone else to finish,a hand raised ever so slowly in one of the back rows.

The mumbling stopped and the room grew silent almost instantly. Lucy frowned at the uncomfortable mood around her and turned to look at the person who imposed this kind of respect in her peers.

In the far back, a man sat quietly with his legs crossed, his arm still the air. A large confident smile spread across his lips, his long purple fringe covering his eyes.

' _Purple hair, huh'_ she thought. While it wasn't unheard of to have unusual hair colors, the number of people with natural striking hair was much lower than it used to be. According to history books, hair of all colors used to be quite common in the old days, but people with those genes either fizzled out with time, or the gene stopped being passed down through the generations. She considered it lucky to inherit her natural red hair from her grandmother, since it was a color that both stood out, yet looked natural enough for her to not be seen as some kind of rebel.

Still, this guy didn't look like the type to dye his hair. Everything about him seemed to point to a person of high political standings. True that his brightly colored suit wasn't exactly in good taste, but there was something about the way his tie was tucked in and his chin length hair was tied back that gave off an aura of expertise and sophistication.

"Yes, I have a few questions" he finally spoke with a calm tone, the smile never fading from his lips.

The president answered each and every one of his points, completely ignoring everyone else in the room. It took a few moments after he was done for the audience to get back to their whispering and noisy gossip.

Lucy couldn't help but feel as if the man in the audience was the one holding the authority in this conversation and not the president himself. She snapped a few quick pictures of him then turned to look at the podium.

The president sighed lightly into his chair, as if he got over a hurdle, then stood up and retired without saying anything else, much to the public's dismay.

It was over? Just like that? Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed, but also intrigued. She turned around to see the man was gone. When did he leave?

This was strange, she thought, but an interesting kind of strange. Like a mystery beckoning her to solve it.

Just who was that man and what was going on?

* * *

The conference continued as expected, but the man never returned. 2 hours later, Lucy was walking through the parking lot, a myriad of questions flowing through her mind.

She walked up to a car with her colleague waiting for her behind the driver's seat.

"Hey, Lucy! Did you get any good pictures?"

She nodded absently, her mind still stuck on that Q&A session.

"Well hop in and let's get back to office" Toby smiled, starting the engine.

Lucy got into the back seat of the car, looking at the stills on the digital camera as the car drove away.

She browsed through the photos until she got to the ones with the strange man from earlier. He was on the other side of balcony from where she stood, so the pictures turned out somewhat blurry in a crowd of other blurry faces, but his purple hair made him easy to find.

' _Why does it feel like I've seen this man before?'_ she frowned while staring at the picture.

She couldn't wait to get home that day.


	2. Wish granted

She looked through archived images of past conferences. Her hunch was right, the same man appeared in multiple photos throughout the years, though she assumed he took part in all of them, even if he was never photographed. Always looking the same, always a face in the crowd.

' _This guy has been to all the conferences? But why?'_ she thought.

The rational part of her mind brushed it off as him being like her, a willing spectator to all the current events, maybe even a party member that wanted to stay up to date with higher decisions, though, deep down, she had other thoughts.

' _ALL of them?'_

She had to know.

She needed conclusive evidence. She needed access to old papers and images. If they still existed…

* * *

"Lucy! Where have you been?"

"Sorry sir, but I need to take some time off" came a tired voice from the other side of the cell phone.

"What, you sick?" he asked, puzzled.

"Not really…but I have a problem I need to take care of"

"Work comes first, young lady! If you value your job!" came a peeved retort.

"Well sir, I'm working on that article you wanted. And I'll be writing it from home. Don't worry sir, I promise it'll be the best article you've ever seen"

"Hmm…well, if it's for work…then ok, I guess you can stay home for the day"

"…and the rest of the week too, sir..." she added meekly.

"WHAT THE-"

She hanged up before the holler finished piercing her ears from the other side.

She breathed in deeply and slumped back in the library chair she was sitting on for the past 4 hours.

' _I'm so fired'_ she thought and went back to skimming books.

* * *

She finally found it. The tenth library she visited this week. The oldest one in town. And almost impossible to get a hold of their archives, too. She was lucky Toby had a member pass to lend her.

' _It pays to be a member of the press'_ she smiled. A copy of a newspaper article from that day. The original must've already been very worn, since the inkhad faded and the paper had turned a dull brown. But more importantly, it had a picture. Well, a pencil sketch, to be precise, but detailed and realistic enough to use as reference.

She took her magnifying glass and started looking around for the now all too familiar face in the crowd, a task made more difficult by the absence of color in the illustration. But he wasn't there. She felt both relieved and disappointed at the same time.

' _Get real, Lucy. There's no way he'd be there'_ was her first thought.

'… _because you probably didn't look hard enough!'_ was her second.

She started looking at the engraving again, trying to find his face in the back rows, as with all the previous photos she found. Then a thought hit her. Maybe…he wasn't in the public?

She turned the page to look at the drawing of the presiding members.

And she was right. It was right under her nose, yet she didn't realize it until now. There he was, clear as day, even on the worn blurry image, on the far left of the council group shown sitting at the table.

' _Yes!'_ she cheered inwardly. She knew it had to be true! He WAS at every conference since the very beginning. Her smile dropped almost instantly as another realization hit her.

' _EVERY. Conference?'_

The first Annual meeting took part in 1844. By all logical reasoning, he shouldn't even be alive anymore. Not to mention, he looked exactly the same age as he did now, albeit having different clothes, depending on the time period.

There was one logical explanation.

' _It's photoshopped!'_ quipped her brain instantly.

No, how would they even do that to a pencil sketch from an original piece from 1844?

' _He's a vampire!'_ came another thought.

Possibly. But he was out during the day. Vampires can't stand daylight, as far as she knew. But maybe he was one of them fancy rule breaking vampires, that don't have to abide by old tropes.

' _Or maybe he's just immortal somehow'_. Yes, she'll settle on that.

One thing was for sure though. She had to find him and get the truth out of him. Personally.

* * *

A week later, she realized that was much easier said than done. She had no idea where to look for him or even what country he came from. She went to every open-public political debate she could find, but he wasn't there. She was sure she found him in pictures of other events as well. Did he start limiting himself to the Annual International Affairs conference? Will she have to wait a whole year before seeing him again?

Her phone rang incessantly during this time and all her plans seem to reach a dead end. She was UNDOUBTEDLY fired, that she knew, but she couldn't try going back to work now. Not until she found what she was looking for. The big scoop. The news to end all news.

She could see the headline in her head right now:

' _Immortal vampire/not vampire planning the future of the world! What dastardly deeds are these garlic haters up to and what does that mean to your children?!_ '

This is what she was made for!

So then, why was she getting nowhere fast?

' _SO HOT_.'

She blew into her Slurpee, making the drink bubble lightly as she did. Today was not a good day to be running around town. She crossed the public park with a frustrated look on her face, looking around at the happy couples and families enjoying the summer afternoon in the shade. And there she was, wasting her time, cooking her brain, with no clue on where to find him.

She kept thinking it over, chewing the information she had, letting the anger build up inside her to a boiling point. She stopped in the middle of the alley, pulled the juice away from her mouth and grit her teeth.

"For crying out loud! Where could that purple haired monster be when you need him?" she yelled to the clouds.

She got a few stares from the people around her, but she didn't care. She needed this. It helped her nerves.

She didn't even notice when her hand got lighter.

"You called?" she heard a sing-song voice behind her.

She jumped, but tried to keep her cool. _Couldn't be…_

She braced herself and slowly turned around.

There he was, the purple haired mystery of science she was looking for all this time! …wearing a Hawaiian shirt, blue shorts and sandals, drinking a Slurpee.

 _What...?_

She looked down at her hand and realized her own drink was gone. That's what felt lighter. Of course. Wait, when did he even steal it?

He grinned at her with his fox-like expression as he kept drinking. She finally got a chance to look at his face properly. She noticed that indeed, he always kept his eyes closed, not just in pictures.

He seemed to see her just fine, though, maybe even more than that, as she felt a shiver down her spine, like he was staring at her soul. He was every bit as eerily intimidating as she imagined.

She had so many questions to ask, the least of which being why a vampire would enjoy frozen carbonated beverages.

She mumbled to herself for a while, until she felt something being placed back in her hand. It was her empty Slurpee.

"Thank you, although I prefer strawberry." he stated in a polite tone, though it sounded more like sarcasm than genuine advice.

She snapped out of her daze as he turned to leave. ' _He can't leave yet!'_

"Wait...!" quick, what was the most important question she had to ask?

"I didn't catch your name!"

' _Really, that's what matters most?'_ her mind scolded her. _'Stupid, stupid, stupid!'_

He turned around, a puzzled look on his face. He smiled again. Did she amuse him this much? Wait, can he hear her thoughts? That's a total invasion of her privacy! He smiled even more. ' _HE CAN!'_ she shrieked inwardly.

"Well, you can call me Xellos. The mysterious…hmm….PR manager" he replied with a slight delay.

' _Call him? Does that mean it's not his real name?'_

"Maaaaaay-be! That one depends on you, miss" he chipped in to her inner thoughts. _Creepy_.

"Y-you can read my mind?" she growled, clenching her fist tightly. The crushed Slurpee remains dripped all over her hand. _Stupid._

"Of course not." He chuckled.

 _Really?_

"I'm just guessing" he added. "Though you get a little flutter in your heart when I say these things, so I'm assuming I'm right"

' _Flutter in my heart?'_

"Well, anything else you require my assistance with? I came all this way, too" he added. Was he getting bored of this?

"Are you a vampire?"

There, she said it.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. He looked around at the people walking by, then pointed at himself in surprise.

"Yes! You!"

He quickly took a hand to his face to stifle a fit of laughter threatening to erupt from deep within him. He snorted into his hand like a child. Not what she imagined he was like at all.

"Don't toy with me! I've seen the pictures!"

"Pictures?" he asked, self-consciously combing back his hair with his hand.

"Yes! You were at the Annual International Affairs conference in 1844! How is that even possible? What were you doing there?" she continued, unabashed by his behavior.

His smile dropped instantly and an aura of malice seemed to take its place. It lasted for only a brief moment before he put on the happy façade again and faked innocence.

"Well, would you look at the time! So many places to go, so many wishes to grant!" he chuckled, raising his hands in the air defensively as he slowly started to back away from her.

' _What are you, a genie?'_

Was he dodging her question?

"No! Don't leave without answering me! What is your purpose?" she called after him.

He turned around again, a grave look on his face. Finally, he was taking her seriously!

"You really need an answer?" he said, his voice low. For a moment, she thought she saw his eyes opening.

"Yes! Please, tell me!" she begged from a distance. The crowd turned to stare at her like a weirdo. It didn't matter. All this time she wasted looking for him, it was about to pay off.

"Well then, all I can say is..." he started, then the grin appeared on his face again and he lifted a finger to his lips "THAT is a secret!" he finished with a chuckle. Then she couldn't see him anymore. Vanishing into thin air, everyone around her acting like they've never even seen him to being with.

Was she going crazy?


	3. The box

She tried to find him again. She called him by the name he gave her, but to no avail. He never came back.

She never gave up, either. She spent the next month trying to track him down, detective style.

Her boss visited her house once. She hid under her covers and didn't answer the door. Yup, her job was toast.

She decided to make a scrapbook of all the information she had on him, and see what she could do from there. He seemed to take part in quite a lot of political affairs, but apart from that first meeting, he was never an active member. Almost like he didn't want to stand out on purpose.

Why did he want to blend in? Was he monitoring them? On who's orders?

She doubted he acted on his own; he didn't seem like the type. That meant there were a whole slew of immortals just like him, planning something from the shadows. Or was that plan already in motion?

The more she learned, the more she feared that the world was in peril.

How many more like him existed?

Problem was, there was no easy way to find information on that. Conspiracy theories thrived in the online community, sure, but how would she know which one related to her case? Which one wasn't made up? She needed historical proof to back it up.

' _That's it!'_

Of course, the best proof was the objective one. The past! There had to be records of him in the past. Somewhere…

* * *

Another month passed by and she was nearing the end of her ropes, and also her finances. Nothing concrete about him in any book she could buy or read online. Unless he erased all proof of his existence on purpose, which she doubted since he seemed to miss the 1844 newspaper, he laid so low for the past hundred or so years nobody bothered to write about him.

She looked through her fridge. Empty. She needed food, but she had no money left. Her personal and professional life were all but ended at this point, but going back meant defeat. It meant he'd win. She couldn't let him win.

Her family called on several occasions, but she refused to answer them. What could she tell them anyway? _'Sorry mom and dad, I quit my job to go looking for this strange immortal being I know nothing about so I can write an article about him?'_

The nuthouse wasn't even far from her home; she was sure she would see her parents through the barred window stare disappointingly at her, writing her name off their will.

She sighed. She hit another dead end. Maybe she should yell at the clouds again, it did seem to work last time. She gathered her strength, made sure the neighbors weren't home and started cursing that Xellos guy with all her might.

Nothing happened. All she did was get a lot hungrier. She felt like giving up for good.

As if on cue, the phone rang. She jumped to her bed to grab it and looked at her caller in excitement.

' _Oh, it's just grandpa'_ she realized, all the energy draining from her again.

She thought about it for a second then decided to answer it. She hadn't talked to him in a long time. Her grandma dying seemed to hit him very hard and he slowly broke contact with the rest of the family. With his waning health, everyone was worried about him. She felt like, if she didn't talk to him now, she might never get another chance.

"Hey grandpa" she said, trying to sound as serene and cheerful as possible.

"Your parents called me"

 _OH._

"Wanna talk about it, sweetie?" he continued. That's rich, coming from someone who shut himself in for years. But, she felt like she understood him somewhat. She smiled a little.

"It's a long story, grandpa. I've just been busy with work, that's all" she lied. She still imagined it was for work, but she knew that wasn't it. It was for her. It was a dare the purple haired man placed on her. _Catch me if you can_ , he seemed to say.

"Well, want to work on it together?" he answered.

"Oh, grandpa, what could you possibly help me with?"

"I have a pretty big collection of books at home, you know. I kept everything just as your grandma placed them. Maybe some of them could help you?"

Lucy felt a tingle in her heart. Like she found what she was looking for.

"Yeah, maybe they could. I'll be right over!" she beamed, hanging up.

Fortune was smiling down on her once again.

She picked up the phone and called him back.

"Grandpa, what are we having for dinner?" she added, blushing.

* * *

She skimmed through the entire bookshelf. Nothing useful. She slumped into the old armchair, feeling defeated once more. She was sure one of those books had to have something on him.

"Any luck, partner?" an old voice came from the doorway as her grandpa shuffled ever so slowly into the room, a pair of lemonade glasses in his hands.

He offered her one and petted her head in encouragement.

"No, but thanks anyway". She mumbled, taking a sip of lemonade. She bit her lip. He really liked them sour, huh?

"I don't even know where to look anymore. I searched every book I could find all the way to the 13th century. He isn't there…" _Is he even older than that?_

"Ah, you're looking for someone? A king? A lord?" her grandpa mused.

"Could be. Thing is, I don't really know. I just know he was important."

"Well, there are a couple of old books I kept around. They were your grandmothers and she treasured them deeply. She told me she got them from her father, and he got them from his father, and so on. I guess you could call them a family heirloom." he chuckled.

' _I hope grandma knew how much he loved her to think so highly of her belongings.'_

"How old are they" her eyes lit up in excitement. Grandma never told her about these books before.

"Very old" he answered proudly. "Also very frail. She kept them in a case in the attic and I'm afraid to open them, since they might come apart. As such, I've never read them myself, but they're the oldest books I've ever seen. If you can't find what you're looking for in there, you won't find it anywhere else."

 _This is it._

This is what she was looking for. And she would have all her answers, today.

* * *

It wasn't there. The box her grandpa described wasn't in the attic. _Couldn't be_. She searched the whole house and even the garage. Nothing. There was one explanation.

' _Xellos took it. He knew that box was important and got rid of it so I couldn't read the books.'_

' _Let's not get paranoid. How would he even know? Did he have anything to fear?'_

' _Fear?'_

She was sure of it. Xellos did take it. And the books inside were vital to her finding him. Nay, thwarting his plans! That's why he didn't want them around.

She had to find where he hid them. If he knew about the books, he knew about her family. She realized that they were now in danger because of her nosy actions.

Her quest suddenly became very personal. She had to get in contact with him and find out the truth.


	4. A diary is a window into the soul

She tried searching for him the old fashioned way, but he never appeared before her again. He was avoiding her, it seems. She did try one thing though. An experiment, if you will. She needed to check and see if he was still around, even if she couldn't see him. So she did the only thing she knew to lure him out of hiding.

She bought a strawberry Slurpee and left it out on a park bench near where she met him face-to-face for the first and last time. She hid behind a tree, watching and waiting. Night came and nobody touched it. _Defeated again._

She turned to leave, but as she walked away, she decided to throw one last glance at the bench. The drink was gone. Her eyes widened and she ran up to it, checking for him. He already got away, it seemed. On the bench was a note, with one word written on it.

" _Better"_

' _What an ass'_ she thought, flustered.

Nonetheless, the experiment was still a success. He really was around, and she could communicate with him through notes.

She began writing to him every day, leaving a note behind and finding one with a response on it, albeit cryptical or sarcastic. It didn't matter though; she could figure out his intent on her own.

There was one answer though, that made her heart shrink. She asked him what he did to her grandma's books.

 _"Got rid of them"_

She cursed and cried and cursed again, but she was sure he was lying. It was all meant to get her to quit. ' _Well, tough luck, senor fancy pants, because I'm onto you, and I won't stop 'till one of us dies_.'

Her inner monologue ignored the fact that he was immortal.

* * *

The days went by and she didn't get any closer to finding her answers. Her grandpa never read those books, as he said, so he wasn't much help with their contents. She had to know what was in them, though.

She was starting to get frustrated with their little back and forth go-nowhere conversations, as well.

"- _You goddamn bastard, how dare you toy with me, you good for nothing rotten asshole! Go die in a ditch! Also, I don't like you very much-._ Did I read that right? _"_

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the tall blonde woman who held her most recent note for her to see. She blushed, realizing upon hearing out loud that maybe she got a bit bold with her swearing. She was risking it, insulting an immortal monster like that.

"I take it this was meant for Xellos?" the mysterious woman continued with a light smile in the corner of her lips.

 _Was she one of his allies?_

Lucy went pale at the sudden realization then let out a nervous chuckle.

The woman laughed with her and handed the note back to her.

"There's no point in chasing after him, you know. He'll just keep running away. If you want to meet up with him, you have to make him come to you" the woman said, as if reading her mind. _Again._

"How do I do that? Should I try calling him again?" Lucy asked, curiously.

"Xellos doesn't like playing the same game twice. You'll have to be more creative than that to get him to notice you again."

"Like what?"

The woman shrugged.

"That's for you to figure out, little girl"

' _Little? I'm almost 20!'_ Lucy pouted. She was rather petite, yes, but still…!

"Well, all I wanted was to get back my grandma's parting gift. It's a wooden yellow case with a dragon pattern on top. It's a family heirloom, you see. But…Xellos told me he destroyed it." Lucy said truthfully.

The woman seemed deep in thought for a second.

"Oh, that case. It's behind the 'Garden musings' novel on the first floor of the old condemned building on Groot Street. He placed it there a while ago."

Lucy froze.

"How…is that true?"

"Probably" the woman shrugged again, a look of boredom on her face.

 _Wasn't she on his side though? Why would she rat him out?_

"Why did you tell me that?" Lucy asked nervously.

The woman smiled again, this time a sinister, wicked smile.

"Because, I want to make this game more interesting"

* * *

She picked up the case and dusted it off a bit. The woman was telling the truth, a box fitting her grandfather's description was placed behind the book on the back of the shelf inside the old building. An abandoned library. _Obviously._ Hiding books among books. What dastardly thinking.

She opened the box and looked inside. There were 3 books, 2 of which were indeed in very poor condition, worn, with moth-chewed pages and peeled off covers. Truly, the oldest books she ever saw. The third book, however, seemed to be in pristine condition. Almost eerily so. Despite sitting underneath the others, it didn't have so much as a speck of dust on it. The cover design also pointed out that it was about as old as the others, so it didn't make any sense.

She decided to save it for last, since there was obviously something special about that book, and started reading them in order from top to bottom.

The top one seemed to be a history book, detailing the reigns of kings that were lost to time. Not exactly what she was looking for, but some things did seem out of place. Stories about the War of the Monster's Fall, Zanaffar, Shabranigdo and more…these were all fantasy stories, but spoken about like they took place in real time. Weird, very much so. Fairies, elves, demons…they took active part in the history of these kingdoms, as if it was a real life mythology novel.

Were this books' stories real or just fantasy? But she had heard of some of these people. Dragons protecting the kingdom? Demons destroying villages?

If all this truly happened, where were they now? She was sure she'd notice giant fire breathing lizards running around, or magic spells that made people fly. Nothing like that ever happened in the 19 years she's been alive. Life was one dull string of same-y days and washed out grey faces in the crowds.

The book was probably that. A highly fantasized version of ancient history.

Though, one account caught her eye.

 _King Zelgadis Seyruun the first._

If the numbers were true, his reign lasted over 240 years? How is that even possible?

The book spoke of him favorably, considering him a wise and noble king. His physical description was rather off, though.

 _Blue skin, sharp eyes, long pointed ears, fangs, rock covered body._

He sounded like a demon.

There were also accounts of his successor, his son, which were far less forgiving. Quite harshly spoken of, described as _'the beginning of the downfall of the Seyruun kingdom'_ , which seemed to become less and less mentioned as the book went on, up till the last half where it seemed to stop existing.

Lucy was rather intrigued and got a nagging feeling the person she was looking for had a hand in all of this somehow.

* * *

She picked up the second book. It was made entirely of paper and in worse shape than the first. It seemed to have been treated as less important and consequentially handled more carelessly.

She started reading it.

It seemed to be a diary.

As she went on, she realized it was king Zelgadis's diary. The first half was written in perfect cursive handwriting, with a distinct style and tone, but the latter half seemed to be more jagged and scribbled, as if the author was losing control over his hand and thoughts.

' _Something must've happened to him. Something I might be able to understand from the book'_

The diary seemed to start off in the middle, with his early life accounts being told as a flashback. Seems he was on orphan, raised by his grandfather. The book went on to detail many accounts, including the horrible events that led up to him becoming a chimera creature, which explained his appearance in the first book. It also described his feelings for a certain girl that appeared to be the princess of the Seyruun kingdom mentioned earlier, but all this seemed to be skimmed over. It was more like the author was avoiding talking about himself, and preferred to detail someone else's life. Someone else's story.

Truly, the book seemed to focus more on the actions of a certain woman named Lina Inverse.

Someone she never heard of before, but for some reason sounded strangely familiar.

This person seemed to take part in so many world changing adventures, was known and feared by every monster out there. She was presented as being resourceful and loyal, and seemed to have earned King Zelgadis' respect through her actions.

Her story seemed to end rather abruptly though and the diary went on with Zelgadis' own life after finishing his travels and settling down at the palace.

A lot of different people seemed to be mentioned in those stories, people she never heard of or really cared about. But there was one that she did. As expected, there was indeed mention of Xellos.

Twice.

Once in the middle of the book, where it talked about their first encounter with each other:

 _That night is when I met him. That demon that called himself Xellos. I hated him almost instantly._

 _Standing on top of that burning pillar, clapping. He came up to us and requested our help with finding a lost Claire Bible copy his shrine was caring for. I could sense he was a shifty con artist the second I saw him, but Lina was more forgiving. It took me a few years to understand why. Most of Lina's group was made up of people that didn't seem to deserve a second chance, myself included. I guess she thought he was more than he seemed._

 _But she was wrong. Judging by looks alone, yes, he seemed almost pitiable. The traveling priest attire reminded me of Rezo. This was the first reason I didn't like him. His patched up pants, baggy clothes, honest smile and tear-jerking story all seemed to lead up to him being a victim in need of our aid._

 _Then we learned it was all a lie. And we learned it from him, no less. He stole the copy and destroyed it when he didn't find it useful, completely forgetting about our deal. He just took advantage of us and left. Again and again and again. He showed up only when he needed us and left when we needed HIM._

 _An irredeemable, irresponsible, shameless jackal. That's all he was._

 _Yet Lina didn't seem to hold it against him very much._

 _That is, until that day. I'm sure that was his doing, even if nobody else is willing to accept it. But what could I do about it?_

The entry was cut short at that point, with no other explanation as to what that 'day' meant.

He was mentioned again near the very end, in a story that seemed to pose more questions than anything else. By this time, his handwriting had decayed considerably, with long pauses and ink splatter that made it a lot harder to read. He seemed to be straining himself just to write cohesively at this point. Lucy guessed that he was near the end of his life.

 _I feel at a loss. My condition has been getting worse lately. That damned Rezo and his experiments. I feel less and less… human as the years go by. I can barely see anymore because of the hardened skin on my eyelids. I can't concentrate. My mind…is failing me. I don't trust my…self anymore._

 _I feel like… I wasn't the right person to lead Seyruun. Amelia…Amelia was always so positive…she truly believed in me…how could she believe in such a monster? I wasn't worthy of her…she deserved so much more. She waited on me…she waited for nothing! I realized it all too late. She was aging so much faster than me. Why didn't I…notice? She stayed by my side though. She even made sure I was left the legal king of a country I didn't really want to lead…_

 _But I tried. I did it for her. I did it for her trust, for the smile she always showed me. Even when she couldn't leave her bed, she still smiled at me. She told me she loved me every day. But I never answered back. I couldn't._

 _Amelia trusted in our future. She believed our marriage would work out, unlike Lina's. Because I would always stay by her side, even though I wasn't human. I did. I wasted her life._

 _I couldn't have any children. Why didn't I realize this sooner? I wasted her future, staying by her side. Amelia has no other relatives left now. When I die, Seyruun will lose its royal family. I doomed this kingdom._

 _It's all my fault. MINE, MINE, MINE._

 _MINE ALONE._

… _Alone? No, I'm not alone. I feel the cool air and I can hear the curtains flapping aimlessly in the wind. I hear his voice. The bastard came back, just like I thought. He knows I gave up. He knows I'm willing to take his deal._

 _Xellos. You heartless devil._

 _But I'm desperate. I have to._

 _I…I'm sorry Amelia. I…loved you too._

There wasn't much after this. Zelgadis never went into detail about what happened, but Lucy could make a pretty good guess. She felt like she was seeing Xellos in a completely different light now.

She was afraid of him.

And she needed to end him, no matter what.

* * *

The third book was the one she was most interested in. It had a blue, hard cover with an intricate pattern and words written in an indecipherable language on the bind. As she noticed earlier, it was in perfect condition.

She felt a little jolt pinch her fingertips as she tried to open it, as if it was protected by some sort of electrical coating. _Magic?_

Yes. this was a book on magic!

Even though it was written in some ancient language, she could understand the words just by looking at them. As if she had some sort of deep memory of it.

Earth spells, elemental conjuring, fire blasts.

So many uses.

But one spell in particular brought a smile to her face.

' _Demon summon'_


	5. Summoning a demon

Lucy finished placing the salt in a circle around the chair, then let out a big yawn. The sun was just rising, but she had already downed 3 coffees to prepare herself. Probably not a healthy decision.

She read the list of ingredients again. Only one left.

 _The demon's belonging._

She placed the crushed Slurpee he gave her on the chair. It'll do.

That was the last one. She did everything as it said. She brought the worn armchair closer and sat down.

In the end, the old abandoned building was a good pick, since nobody would find them or interrupt the ritual.

She held the blue book in front of her and started reading the chant, her heart racing as she did.

Nothing happened.

 _Curses._

She tried again, this time putting more passion into it.

The salt circle seemed to glow a little, but nothing else.

 _Again._

She chanted a third time, this time pouring all her strength into it. She felt the energy being drained from her, like an invisible leech was sucking away her life-force. Her knees wobbled a bit before she composed herself.

The circle glowed brightly this time, creating a see-through energy beam that reached the ceiling. Soon enough, she saw a form starting to appear inside the circle. At first, it looked like a black piece of cloth, then it began taking shape. It turned into a…floating cone, for some reason.

 _Did the ritual fail?_

Then the cone reshaped itself and a Xellos wearing green bunny pajamas plopped down on the chair with a confused look on his face.

 _Yes! Yes!_

She started cheering to herself, giving herself imaginary high-fives as Xellos checked the wetness under his pants and pulled out a flattened plastic cup with lemon flavored juicy remains. It looked familiar for some reason.

She coughed into her hand, drawing his attention to her. He noticed the book she was holding.

"Well, well…this is a… SURPRISING turn of events" he said with a nervous chuckle.

"I wonder; how did I end up here? I remember I was making tea as per my morning routine and.." he started pondering to himself out loud, stroking his chin.

"I summoned you here, demon! And you will do as I say!" Lucy stated proudly.

"Please, call me _Mazoku_." he corrected her. "It's a broader, more meaningful term. You see, the difference is-"

"Doesn't matter" she cut him short. She mustn't get distracted. This was her moment. This is what she was waiting for all this time.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small recorder and microphone and pointed it at the de.. - _mazoku-_ who was busy poking the glowing aura around himself.

She pulled herself closer to him and placed the microphone uncomfortably close to his face. He thought, if it wasn't for the barrier between them, she would've stuck it in his mouth.

"So, Mr. Mazoku, I want to get your story." she started, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Umm, I'm sorry, I'm camera shy..." he replied, fading away.

He faded back in almost immediately, landing back on the chair.

"He he he! You can't run away this time!" she shook her finger at him. "This magic spell is meant to contain all evil creatures indefinitely and make them obey the summoner!"

Xellos gave her a very disappointed look.

"I will have my article, or so help me! Now, let's get this interview started!" Lucy continued, feeling a fire burn inside her.

"Can I have a better chair, please? This one isn't very comfy. Not to mention, kinda wet…" he asked, not seeming to understand the situation he was in.

"No." came the swift reply.

"Can I go turn the stove off? I think my tea is spilling over by now…" he tried again.

"No."

"Might I suggest you summon me back later to a Café or a Theater? This place is rather dusty and drab, it's not good for my allergies."

"NO!"

He sighed in defeat and crossed him legs, twiddling with his thumbs while he waited for her to start questioning him.

* * *

"Alright, let's start from the beginning" Lucy said in the microphone then turned it over to him, pressing the record button.

"Well, in the beginning, the world was but a dull void. Then, the particles came together and…" he started.

"Not that far back! Tell me YOUR beginning."

"Well, in the beginning, _I_ was but a dull void. Then, the particles came together and…" he insisted.

"This isn't working out." she rubbed her eyes in annoyance.

She pulled out the paperback book and showed it to him.

"Do you recognize this?" she asked.

"No, can't say that I do." he answered serenely.

"It's king Zelgadis of Seyruun's diary" she continued unabashed.

"Ah, Zelgadis...now THAT is a name I haven't heard in a long time" he smiled.

"So, you knew him?" Lucy asked.

"Why yes, we went fishing together at one point!" Xellos laughed.

Lucy felt like he was pulling her leg, but for some reason she was worried that he wasn't.

"So, then, can you tell me about your relationship with him?"

"Oh, he was more into women, you see."

"I meant, what did you two do when you met up"

"Cooking, tennis, late-night storytelling…"

"Who was Lina Inverse?"

"…"

Lucy knew she struck a chord. Xellos fell silent and looked at the ground.

"Tell me"

"Lina was…special" he said in the end. "She was just another sorceress, but I have to admit, out of all the humans I've ever met, she was the most fascinating. She had the kind of strength you can't describe with words, a fiery spirit that can't be quelled and a will that can't be stopped."

"She… really was something…" Xellos told the ground in front of him. Almost as if he was ashamed to look at her while saying these things.

"Is there anything you'd like to share?" she asked, concerned about his change in attitude.

He stayed silent again for the longest time. Suddenly, he seemed to be over it and he lifted his gaze, putting on his cheerful façade once again.

"No, not really!" he smiled.

"Just give me a straight answer" Lucy insisted.

"Technically, answers can't be straight. If I have to describe them, they would be a wave-y irregular shape..." he corrected her.

"Don't make fun of me! You're MY prisoner!" she was starting to get quite peeved by his attitude.

Then she remembered what the blonde woman said. This is exactly what he wanted. To annoy her. She had to turn it around.

"Or rather… are you AFRAID to answer?" she said with a coy smile.

"N...no?" he raised an eyebrow at her. Where was she going with this?

"Yes, you are ashamed of yourself and of your past. That's why you're hiding from me. You poor creature."

Xellos smiled a nervous smile as his left eye twitched slightly.

"Well, if you really must know…" he said and she beamed at him, placing the microphone closer to him.

His face went serious as he started to remember events he long since buried in his memory.


	6. Goodbye, Lina Inverse

" _Miss Lina, please!" Sylphiel called after her, holding the small child tightly._

" _It's been 4 months! 4 months, Sylphiel, and he hasn't come back! This isn't like him…something must've happened to him..." Lina said, looking up at the sky._

 _She didn't pay it any mind when he left. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, anyway. They had settled down together in a small house close to her childhood home, on top of a grassy hill. As such, Gourry would always go to town to buy things for his family. He loved getting presents for his son and the toddler was always happy to receive new toys. He was still a scatterbrain even after all these years, sure, but he always came back._

 _He wouldn't abandon them. So then, why hasn't she heard any news from him?_

 _For the past 4 months she went through the entire cycle of grief: worry, sadness, desperation…but now she felt angry. Angry and in need of retribution._

 _Lina clenched her fist. She didn't want to believe it at first. She waited, patiently, then impatiently, for him to return. Then, yesterday, she saw HIM outside her window. Xellos. For just a second, and then he was gone. But she knew, this wasn't a coincidence. He was involved in this somehow._

 _Why? Why would they do this? Gourry never did anything to them! Was this a ploy to get to her? Well, they were about to have their wish granted._

 _She left her child in Sylphiel's care. Despite her early days' feelings towards her, Sylphiel was a good friend and they stayed close, even after all this time. She trusted her more than anyone else with caring for little Leon. The trip she was going on was far too dangerous to bring him along._

" _Where are you going, miss Lina?" Sylphiel asked with a worried voice._

 _She had a good idea where._

* * *

 _It took a few weeks. Lord Beastmaster's lair was carefully hidden within the deep dark forest, but her minions were easy to track. She just had to follow their routine and she found the entrance she was looking for._

 _She felt so much rage. It boiled deep inside and nothing could quench her thirst for revenge._

 _She stormed her way through, taking down all the mazoku that stood in her path, till she reached the throne room. The sound of magic blasts rang throughout the large hallways and the entire structure shook with every hit._

 _Zelas Metallium sat on her throne, sipping a martini. She waited patiently for the intruder to show herself. She didn't have to wait long._

 _Lina blew the door off its hinges, panting. She was tired, but her anger kept her going. She needed to see him…she needed to see Gourry._

 _Xellos walked up to her, blocking her path. He gave her a stern look; one she rarely saw from him. His eyes were telling her to back away._

" _Get out of my way…" she growled, venom dripping from her voice._

" _Kindly let our guest in, Xellos", Zelas gestured, still sitting on the throne. Xellos felt worried about this, but he complied with his master's orders and stepped to the side._

 _Lina walked past him, not giving him a second glance and stopped next to Zelas._

" _You know why I'm here." she said. No greeting, no respect. She didn't feel in the mood for it._

" _One can guess." Zelas answered coldly._

" _Give him back, right now!" Lina continued. She barely kept herself from shouting._

" _Miss Lina…" Xellos started, but was cut off by his master._

" _Don't interfere, Xellos. This is a private matter." Zelas said without glancing his way._

" _I said give him back!" Lina repeated herself with a more forceful tone._

" _I'm afraid I can't do that" Zelas replied, her tone still indifferent._

" _Why not? I'm here, aren't I? It's me you wanted, you can set him free now!" Lina insisted._

" _Unfortunately, some things didn't…go very well." Zelas stated, tracing the glass with her fingertip. "It's true that we wanted to get your attention. I had a minion capture him, bring him here, keep him locked up. Nothing special. We meant no ill will, you see". Kidnapping humans seemed to be a leisurely pastime for her kind._

" _HOWEVER…he didn't comply. I didn't mind his escape attempts, they were rather amusing if you will, but some of my minions didn't really understand. To hold back on their power. He was just a human, after all, even if he was a decent fighter"_

 _WAS?_

 _Lina's eyes went wide._

" _What happened to Gourry?" Lina said, her voice croaking._

" _I'm afraid he's gone" Zelas sighed. "Though, I expect you will be able to overlook this small mishap and still accept my offer to provide me with your services..."_

 _Lina's chest tightened and her heart skipped a beat._

 _Was she telling the truth? Was Gourry really…DEAD?_

 _It had to be a lie. Mazoku are infamous liars. The Demon Lord just wanted to get to her. She just…. she couldn't take it._

 _She started breathing heavily, an insurmountable amount of rage washing over her. Stronger than ever before. She clenched her fists so tightly it hurt._

" _How...how COULD you?" Lina growled, her knuckles turning white._

" _Accidents will happen. But rest assured, the ones responsible were dealt appropriate punishment" Zelas continued her proposition, undeterred._

 _It wasn't good enough. NOTHING would be good enough for her._

 _Xellos felt Lina's aura flare up. He looked over at them from the doorway, but didn't break his master's orders. There was only one thing he could do: watch it unfold._

 _He gave Lina a long hard glare. One that bore deep within her, sending a message. One that said:_

' _DON'T'_

 _A loud scream echoed throughout the building as Lina lunged herself at Beastmaster's face. Zelas seemed amused by this, seeing Lina blast her with a barrage of fireballs. The spells hit again and again, destroying the furniture and blowing the throne to pieces._

 _Zelas stood undamaged in the middle of the debris and shook her head in disappointment._

" _I will give you some more time to think it over" she tried to change her mind again._

 _Lina answered with a Dragon Slave, clearing the room and half the palace in her wake. Lina felt sweat rolling down her face but she kept going. A strong gust of wind started spinning around her. The enormous wolf chimera flapped its wings in front of her. The creature unsheathed a giant sword and pointed it at Lina._

 _Zelas was taking her seriously now. This was going to be their final standoff._

* * *

 _She…SHE LOST? That's...impossible!_

 _Zelas looked up at Lina who loomed over her, panting hoarsely, her hand gripping her throat. Her arm...it was far too damaged to pick up the sword again. Lina had her at her mercy._

 _She let her guard down in front of a human. That was it. She just didn't expect Lina to be able to control a Ragna Blade so well. It was a miscalculation. She ended up getting hit by multiple slices, and it was painful. In general, Mazoku didn't feel pain, but spells that touched the Astral Plane reached her very core. It stung, just like a real wound._

 _She couldn't keep up her transformation. She felt frail and vulnerable in her earthly body, but she couldn't risk exposing her true form any longer._

 _She stared up at the red-haired woman, cold sharp eyes meeting Lina's fiery ones. Even though she was at a disadvantage, she had too much pride to show fear in front of a creature as lowly as a human._

 _She waited to see what Lina was going to do next._

 _The sorceress swallowed hard, stopping her shaking. A large energy ball started appearing in her hand as she chanted, never taking her eyes off of her. It was over._

 _-TWATCH-_

 _There was a sharp penetrating sound._

 _Lina felt herself getting weak. She looked down, noticing a growing blood stain spread from her stomach area, and a hand piercing through it._

 _Xellos stood behind her quietly with a menacing glare, his right hand going all the way through her body._

 _She should've kept track of him, but she was too blinded by rage to care about his whereabouts. She had made a huge mistake._

 _But maybe, she had also...trusted him in a way? Trusted his pride and sense of fairness? Is that why she let her guard down around him?_

 _All that time they spent together, all their misadventures, both humorous and serious, all the things they experienced together…apparently they meant nothing to him._

 _For a brief second, she wondered; were they ever… friends?_

 _The blood dripped to the floor, forming small pools around her feet._

 _Xellos didn't let go. He stood firmly as her legs began to give way._

 _She didn't turn around to look at him. She could feel his cold aura wash over her, like icy water. Zelas looked up at her, free from her grasp, but still on the floor, still emotionless and... cold. Just like him._

 _Lina never thought about it before, but Xellos was more than just another minion to her. He was her family._

' _Family'._

 _Something she will never see again. She thought about the happy times she spent together with them. The strange but wonderful feeling of being a wife and mother. Gourry…Leon...she was never going to see them again…_

 _She felt tears sting her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. She was too strong for this._

 _The world around her started turning white and she fell limp._

 _She muttered a single word weakly, the sounds never escaping her throat, and she slumped to the floor._

 _Xellos removed his hand from her back, letting her lie on the remains of the carpet in the middle of the throne room. He stood, unmoving, looking down at her form._

 _Zelas got up and walked up next to him, also looking down at Lina's dead body._

 _There was a long moment of silence between them. Both were aware of the situation that transpired._

" _You disobeyed my command"_

 _Xellos knew she was right. But he had acted on instinct. He had to protect her, no matter what._

" _You shouldn't have killed her" his master continued, sounding upset. "She was a valuable asset. She could wield powers no other human could. Not to mention, she was most likely a vessel."_

 _So...it was as he suspected? Lina had a piece of Shabranigdo's soul inside of her? Or was that just one of his master's hunches?_

 _He had botched it up. His master was angry. He dropped to one knee in front of her._

" _I…did what I had to do, master" he answered in a low voice, not daring to look up at her._

" _I was going to be fine, you fool. It was all part of the plan. You truly believe a human could've actually killed me?" she berated him, feeling insulted._

 _He did. He believed Lina could do it. But he didn't say anything._

" _It will take a lot to make up for this loss, Xellos. I did not expect you of all creatures to disobey me, I am very disappointed in you. You're lucky I'm letting you live. As your first act of repentance, you are forbidden from seeing that pet dragon of yours ever again."_

 _She didn't need to say her name. He knew exactly who she meant. It felt bitter, but he had to follow the order._

" _Yes, master…"_

" _You will remain within the compound of this palace until I require your assistance again. Apparently humans have been a bad influence on you. You need to remember your place. You will only go where and when I tell you to." she continued. She knew how much he enjoyed the outside world and how deeply it would pain him to be caged up like this._

" _Yes...master"_

" _Now, I have one last task for you."_

* * *

 _Sylphiel ran out of the house almost immediately. Her worst fears had come true. Xellos had teleported there, floating lightly above the ground, holding Lina's lifeless body in his arms. He stood there for a moment, as if unsure of himself._

 _Sylphiel started crying. She wanted to ask what happened, but his grave expression told her everything she needed to know._

 _His feet touched the ground and he lowered her body gently on the grass. By now, the blood from her wound had dried up and her face looked almost peaceful…sleeping. Maybe she had found her happiness in the afterlife?_

 _Maybe she reunited with Gourry?_

 _He got up and faded away just as quietly as he appeared, leaving her behind._

 _Sylphiel was left with a lot of conflicting emotions, but she knew she had a hard task ahead of her._

 _She heard the baby cry from inside the house and turned to him._

" _Don't cry, Leon. Everything is going to be alright. Every...thing" she sobbed._

* * *

 _The funeral wasn't grand, nor were there many attendants. Lina always said that she didn't want to make a big fuss about it if she could. It would shame her beauty, after all. Just a small grave by her house and many, many flowers._

 _Amelia was the most emotional one. She truly didn't want to believe it when she got the letter, but it appeared to be true. No tricks, no fake outs. Lina was really gone. She wailed, using Zelgadis as a crying pillow. He tried his best to comfort her, but he knew he was failing. He too felt at a loss._

 _Filia sighed, wiped away her tears and avoided talking to them. She had realized, just like Zelgadis, what really happened to her. Sylphiel only told them that Xellos delivered the body, but they knew…this was all his fault._

 _They also knew that there was nothing they could do about it. They didn't have the power to fight him, not now, or ever. They had to just accept the situation and move on._

 _Everyone else stood behind them quietly, giving them room. These people were some of Lina's oldest companions, the ones she was closest to. They deserved to mourn her the most._

 _Sylphiel cuddled the child in her arms. He slept, blissfully unaware of what was going on around him. Sylphiel was such a good caretaker. She promised she would raise the child herself and give him all the love his parents never could from now on._

 _Zelgadis looked at the engraving. It only bore Lina's name. Lina Inverse…even though she was married, she wanted to keep her last name. She said that it was the name everyone knew her as, and it would hurt her reputation to change it. It sounded amusing at the time, but Gourry didn't seem to mind._

 _There was no grave for him. Sylphiel insisted that there was no need for it, since he was probably still alive somewhere, and it would be disrespectful towards him. Zelgadis thought she was naïve, but maybe she just didn't want to accept it. Until a body turned up, she would keep believing he was going to come back. She promised she would care for his child until that day._

 _Zelgadis shook his head at her stubbornness and looked to the side. There, behind the old oak tree, he was sure he saw him. Xellos was also here, watching the funeral from a distance._

 _He had a lot of nerve to show himself. Nobody else seemed to have noticed his presence, however, so the chimera kept quiet about it. The funeral went on without any problems._

* * *

 _Why did he come here? He knew he was risking it by breaking his master's order once again, but he felt like he had to be here, if only for a short while. He was glad his master was away for the day. He feared what she would do to him if she found out he left the palace without her consent._

" _I suppose this is goodbye, Lina Inverse" he said in a low voice, too low for anyone else to hear him._

 _He remembered her last word. Even though he didn't hear it, he could read it on her lips. And it surprised him. He expected her to call out for her family, her friends, or maybe even make a promise of revenge or a curse. But she didn't. She only said his name._

" _Xellos" she muttered before her lights went out._

 _Even though she didn't say anything else, he understood what she meant. He could read human emotions, after all, so he got the intent behind it. And at that moment, she felt…sad._

 _Disappointed. Betrayed._

 _She should've expected it. After all, he was a mazoku. An evil, hateful creature with a shady agenda. She had known that for a long time. Why did she trust him in the first place? She was never more than a useful tool to him, didn't she see that? Did she really believe there was more to their relationship than that?_

 _He felt a strange churning deep within him, like a feeling he didn't know how to experience, one he couldn't describe. Something like…regret?_

 _Did she really…know him better than he knew himself?_

 _He pondered this for a long time. He pondered it as he looked at her grave, at the people that placed flowers on it, at their sad, tear encrusted faces. He wondered if she really did matter to him in a way._

 _For now, all he could do was watch, without knowing he was watched in return._

* * *

 _Zelas smiled to herself as she looked at him through her crystal ball. He truly was hopeless. Even when she strictly forbade it, he went to see the girl off. He even thought she wouldn't know, just because she pretended to leave the palace. What a fool he was sometimes. But she liked it. She liked that he had a will of his own, while still being loyal to her. She felt he had the ability to understand humans at a level she herself never could. He really was…entertaining, sometimes._

 _So she let him be._

* * *

Lucy listened to him talk, taking it all in. It was a lot more than she expected to hear, but she was glad she got to know all this.

"So…what happened after that?" she said, her voice low.

"Nothing of value, really. Her son never reached his mother's potential, so he never became famous enough for me to hear much about him. I guess he eventually retired and led a normal life. So did the rest of Lina's companions, I assume". He wasn't really around to know, since he wasn't allowed to leave the palace too often, but he had a good guess as to what everyone else did after they split up.

"What happened to king Zelgadis?" she asked, looking at the final chapter of her book.

"Oh, he led a blissful life. He married the woman of his dreams and lived for another 260 odd years afterward. He was a chimera, you see, so his lifespan was more than double that of a regular human. Thinking back on it, that didn't bode well for his love life" he smiled.

"In his diary he wrote that he never had any children. Yet, the history book mentions a son. Was it telling the truth?" she asked, moving on.

"Hmm, yes, he did have a son. But it wasn't by natural means, of course."

"And you were involved with that, weren't you?"

"Well, more or less. I never forced him to do anything, really." He sounded so serene telling her this. Truly heartless.

"Tell me what happened" she insisted.

"Alright, if you truly wish to know" he sighed and started the story.


	7. A chimera king's plight

_275 was truly an age to behold. He had outlived the entire Seyruun royal bloodline. THAT was part of the problem. He was feeling the end of his lifetime closing in on him, but there was no true successor to leave in his place. The kingdom wasn't aware that he himself wasn't a true Seyruun family member, since he took Amelia's name upon marriage and the people who did know were long gone._

 _With time, his body and mind had become visibly affected by his chimera blood. The rocky surface on top of his skin had spread to an uncomfortable extent and he was experiencing frequent hallucinations and migraines due to his brow demon genes._

 _He decided to start a journal to try to keep his thoughts organized, but it was getting more and more difficult to keep it up._

 _He frequently wondered if he was still thinking as rationally as he used to. He did notice his decisions were getting hastier and more drastic. He often feared he was close to losing himself to his emotions. He realized he had become quite vulnerable to those who'd want to exploit him._

 _And he was right._

* * *

 _The purple haired mazoku showed himself out of the blue that summer night, floating in from the balcony._

 _Zelgadis closed the diary and turned to look at him with disgust. Xellos seemed to enjoy that expression, smiling brightly as he entered his bedroom._

 _Not breaking the smile, he bowed before him and said in a tone that was a mix of sarcasm and genuine excitement:_

" _My my, it's been so long, KING Zelgadis! What a pleasure it is to have us meet each other again!" he beamed._

 _Zelgadis frowned deeply and used his chair as support to walk in closer to him._

" _The pleasure is all yours, I assure you. State your business."_

 _He hadn't shown his face ever since Lina's funeral, and now all of a sudden he just waltzed into his room like nothing happened. The chimera king may have been frail of mind as of late, but he wasn't stupid. This wasn't a friendly get-together for an old timey chit-chat. He wanted something from him._

" _It's good to see you're still your same broody self, my king!" Xellos answered, chuckling._

" _Alright, let's get to the point, then. We have noticed that Seyruun's political and military involvement in the region have been...lacking lately. An investigation into the cause shows a steady decline in power stemming from the highest form of authority. In short, Seyruun needs a new king to help it regain its former glory. Unfortunately, your chimera body wasn't able to provide one, was it?"_

 _Zelgadis grit his teeth and cursed under his breath. He waited so long to rub it in, didn't he?_

" _What if I told you we had a way to make it possible?", he continued._

 _Zelgadis felt his mouth open in surprise, but he waited until he heard more before he showed any serious emotion._

" _How?" he muttered in a low voice._

" _The same way Rezo made you, I suppose. Through science and alchemy."_

 _They were going to mutilate another poor boy to turn him into a freak like himself?_

" _I would never accept you experimenting on another human being!"_

" _Oh, there'd be no need for a fresh body. Just some of your own. We can boil it down to the basics and infuse them into a fetus. You can look at it like a form of cloning, if you want"_

" _That wouldn't make it my son…" Zelgadis hissed through his teeth. He knew the mazoku was pulling his leg and for a reason he couldn't place, felt a tinge of disappointment in that._

 _Maybe a small part of him was hoping it was possible._

" _It won't be an exact clone, of course. We can't make a perfect replica of something as complex...and flawed... as you."_

 _Zelgadis pretended he didn't hear the last part._

" _So then, how do you plan on doing it?"_

" _Your genes are naturally incompatible with those of normal humans, you must be well aware of that. But mazoku blood can fuse with anything" Xellos grinned widely as he said the last few words, making a long pause after finishing to let the words sink in._

" _We won't take any action without your permission, of course, my liege. But this proposal is quite generous, if you stand to think about it."_

 _Zelgadis frowned deeper, sending him his most piercing glare possible._

" _I don't care about your shady deals, Xellos. Nothing you say can change my mind"_

" _You would turn down a chance to make Amelia's dream come true?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

 _He didn't understand. Why was he bringing Amelia into this?_

" _Well, it might be a little difficult for you to understand, given your…LACKING intimate relationship history, but when a man and a woman love each other very much..." Xellos started explaining with enthusiasm._

" _Get to the point!" Zelgadis growled impatiently._

"… _rude. Anyway, the point is, we also require an egg to hold the embryo we make. And really, the only logical choice for such an honor would be the true queen of the kingdom, wouldn't it?"_

" _That's not possible…. Amelia died over 100 years ago..." Zelgadis lowered his gaze to the ground, feeling the pain of her loss tugging at his heart. Typical of a mazoku, trying to use his emotions to force his hand._

" _That doesn't mean she's completely gone" Xellos added, wagging his finger at him._

 _Zelgadis looked up at him in shock. They didn't…!_

" _You…you bastards! What did you do to her!"_

" _Calm down! Calm down! I assure you, nobody disturbed her resting place!" Xellos backed off defensively. "There are multiple ways one can get human DNA, you know. During their lifetime, of course. And it was well preserved just for such an occasion."_

 _Did they…did they anticipate this situation was going to happen? They prepared over 100 years in advance and just waited for the chance to bait him with it? LOW. SO LOW._

 _But he felt so tempted. If only this was true, if only he could make this possible…not for himself, but for her. He was sure Amelia would've wanted children so much. He felt so guilty to take this chance away from her. He felt the need to make it up to her...to have her in any shape or form back by his side. He wanted to say 'yes'. But he knew there was a trick to it._

" _And what do YOU gain out of this?" he asked cautiously._

" _Nothing big, I assure you. I know you don't trust us, but Seyruun is of great importance to us. We want to see it thrive and grow. But we need mutual trust and agreement. We will provide you with magic, power, and our support, and in return you will give us a small…yearly tribute, as well as official status as royal councilors and advisers"_

" _I will not allow mazoku in a position of power in the most holy city of the Peninsula!" Zelgadis stated, brushing him off aggressively._

" _Oh come now, would it really make that much of a difference? We won't meddle into affairs that don't concern us. And the new king will be about 1/4th mazoku. You yourself have demon blood inside you, do you not? Does it matter what KIND of demon?"_

" _The difference is, I didn't CHOOSE to be like this. I tried to fix my body. So many years, I did…I was a VICTIM! I can't do this willingly to anyone else!"_

" _Well, think of it like this: the mazoku essence is the glue that holds the rest of it together. Without it, there will be no successor to the throne. Seyruun will weaken after eventually losing its last king and will be conquered by its enemies. One way or another, Seyruun cannot last the way it is right now. With us by your side, you stand a better chance to keep your beloved empire going."_

 _Zelgadis closed his eyes tightly and felt his heart shrink. He was right. He couldn't rule forever. He was being backed into a corner and had to make a choice._

" _No pressure. I'll give you a week to make your decision!" Xellos ended his proposal, walking away towards the balcony and jumping over it, disappearing mid-fall._

* * *

 _Zelgadis hoped he could stop time. The week flew by too quickly and he knew that any decision he'd make would be the wrong one._

 _His latest diary entries have been so rambling and incoherent; he knew he wasn't going to last much longer._

 _Xellos came that night, just as he promised. He felt the cool summer breeze envelop the room, the open window making the curtains blow in an elegant dance around the monster that landed on the balcony._

 _He breathed in deeply. This was a mistake. But Amelia…to call it her child…that would be the kind of happiness he'd give anything for…_

" _So, have you decided, my king?" Xellos asked, making a welcoming gesture._

 _He nodded._


	8. Alas, poor Caliban

_He didn't get to see the child until it was born. It was kept a secret from his peers and from the people, and was presented as the son of himself and a previously unmentioned Seyruun distant family member who had renounced her rights to the throne. It was a convoluted excuse, one that brought much skepticism among the population, but in the end, they accepted it out of convenience._

 _As soon as he saw him, Zelgadis regretted his decision deeply. The baby was hideously deformed; the various parts of Zelgadis' mixed body were combined in a twisted and ugly form that made it difficult for the child to breathe or move freely. His mind and speech were impeded and stuttering and Zelgadis feared he would stay that way for life._

 _From the very start, he was frail and weak, requiring almost daily medical care._

 _The child was never shown to the people for fear of their reaction and only the most trusted council members and court servants were allowed to see him._

 _Zelgadis was heartbroken and ashamed, but he still tried his best to love Amelia's son. He named him Caliban and cared for him as best as his own health could, until the day he died._

* * *

 _The new king was crowned at the young age of 14. Already worn, he had great difficulty performing any task. It was well known within the palace that the young king suffered from constant excruciating pains and could barely walk, even with a limp. As such, most of his royal decisions were left to his councilors. But what worried the court most, was the king's complete trust in a set of people that had not been part of the royal house until recently._

 _Indeed, it seemed that the new king made all of his decisions only after receiving advice from mazoku delegates. Little by little, Zelas' influence over the kingdom grew stronger. Within 5 years, the magical barrier protecting the kingdom was shut down, and mazoku and other shady creatures started taking residence in Seyruun._

 _The kingdom's holy status slowly started wearing down, and so did its purity. Quality of life slowly declined as crime went up, and the king had little control over it. Poverty, hate crimes, general distrust and apathy…all ideas that had once been quite foreign to the average citizen, became commonplace. Seyruun became a rotten kingdom, just like all the others._

 _Caliban hated his father for the entirety of his 25-year life. He hated him for bringing him into the world like this, he hated the responsibility he placed on him, and he hated the helplessness he felt constantly._

 _But more than anything, he hated himself for feeling like a monster. Even though he was only 1/4thmazoku, he still felt like one. He could only feel negative emotions, and it mostly boiled down to only two: anger and sadness._

 _He had an understanding of how the mazoku thought and acted, and he realized their goals. The bitterness they felt for being the way they were, and the reason they wanted to end the world so badly. Jealousy. Jealousy at other creatures that were allowed to be happy, to love and be loved, have families and friends and experience the joys of an average life. They felt like the creator of the world had dealt them a losing hand, and they wanted to reset the game to get a better chance._

 _He too, wanted to try again. But he was never going to see that chance._

 _His body finally gave out and he received a private burial. His reign was frowned upon and the people hoped that the next ruler would put the country back on its feet._

* * *

Lucy clutched her heart a little.

She really wasn't prepared to hear all this.

"That poor child…what a life he led" she said to herself, bitterly. "Is that what it's like for you too?" she asked him, her eyes teary.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Xellos asked in confusion.

"What you said just now, that it feels bitter and lonely and sad" she continued, looking him straight in his closed, upturned eyes, hoping to see any display of genuine emotion from him.

Xellos scratched his head, pondering, and shrugged his shoulders.

"No, not really. I guess I must've been a little too metaphorical with my description of his feelings, but trust me, that was king Caliban's personal opinion. We mazoku are completely at ease with our existence. After all, if we mazoku came to despise ourselves, we'd fade out of existence."

"I... huh?" Lucy cocked her head to the side quizzically.

"You see, mazoku don't exist in the same plane as you. The body you see is merely an extension of my own that I created through sheer willpower. That willpower alone is what keeps us going". He demonstrated by punching through his own arm with the other, leaving behind a clean hole that closed up almost instantly after he showed it to her.

Lucy stared at his arm and at his completely serene expression in shock as he did his little gruesome show-and-tell demonstration.

"Isn't that…painful?" she asked, cringing.

"Ha ha, no, not on this plane. Now, on the ASTRAL Plane, a wound like that would hurt a lot, indeed. Thankfully, only us mazoku still have access to cross the planes voluntarily anymore. Olden magic was a pain, indeed." he muttered the last part with a low voice, remembering all the problems he encountered tailing Lina on her adventures.

"So, what happened to magic?" she asked, still hearing his statement.

"It got lost to time…and interference" he shrugged, acting innocent.

"Is that why you stole my books?" she asked, peeved.

"To be fair, I didn't know what was inside the box. I just wanted to mess around with you." he smiled deviously.

Lucy felt herself turn red at his statement. The nerve!

"H-how could you?" she stammered.

"Well, I assumed we were playing a game of tag. You know. You catch me with my photos, I catch you with your books. You catch me in a magical prison, I burn your house down…that kind of fun. By the way, can I go now? I feel my legs going numb." he said nonchalantly, shaking his fuzzy pink slippered foot in a little circle.

"No. I still have questions that need answering!" she jumped, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

 _Wait…he was joking about burning down her house, right?_

"Of course, of course. For now, at least." he laughed, making her shiver again.

"Look, I need you to say the words I want to know!" she continued.

"Might I suggest a dictionary?" he quipped, chuckling.

She gave him a piercing stare and he took the hint.

"I still feel sorry, though…" she lowered her gaze again.

"For?"

"For king Caliban. He led such a miserable life, and he was so wanted by his parents…king Zelgadis only had him to honor his wife, and she never even got to meet her son…"

"Well, it's ok. He wasn't hers to begin with." Xellos stated matter-of-factly.

Lucy felt another wave of anger washing over her. What was he saying?

"What do you mean"

"Well, if you stand to think about it logically, it makes sense. There was no way for a human egg to last for over 100 years, even in the best preservation status. Not to mention, thinking this far ahead of time to extract such an egg from her would require a tremendous amount of forethought and methods that are rather…unorthodox, even for us. The simple matter is, there was never any part of queen Amelia used to make him. I just said what came to mind that would persuade the king to agree to do it" he explained happily.

Lucy stared in shock at the reveal.

"You…you lied to him?"

"Lie is a pretty strong word, miss. I only told him something that sounded reasonable to him. HE was the one who made the assumption we would use queen Amelia's DNA, not me. We didn't even need a human base, really. Mazoku "blood" is an unstable, but universal liaison. Since it crosses 2 planes of existence, it can sustain any life, for a while at least." Xellos hand-waved the situation away, changing the subject "Anyway, is there anything else you wanted to know?"

Lucy felt lost for a moment. She felt like she couldn't take much more, but her curiosity pushed her forward.

"What happened to the kingdom after king Caliban died?"

"Ah, well, that, from what I remember…" Xellos started his story again.


	9. End of an era

_The young king didn't have any children, but he left behind a female councilor he trusted most in his place._

 _Xellos was tasked for the next few hundred years with overseeing her reign. The woman was herself an immortal mazoku, one of high enough rank to achieve perfect human form, but low enough to fear and obey him completely._

 _She ruled the kingdom as instructed, changing her face and body to appear as though she was aging to avoid suspicion from her peers. Though, it was highly likely that they knew, or at least suspected as much, but none of them had the courage to come forth and challenge her._

 _After the disastrous reign of king Caliban, her reign seemed like a much welcomed improvement. In appearance, life seemed to get better for the people of Seyruun, but in essence, the purpose was to ease the assimilation and acceptance of mazoku into the kingdom. The negative aura and emotions felt by the people created a proper atmosphere for creatures that fed on evil, and mazoku thrived._

* * *

 _Years into her reign, it was rumored that the queen was baring her first child. The rumor persisted for the longest time, and it seemed to indeed be true._

 _One day, the queen made her first public speech in months and revealed her growing belly. She was going to have a son, the first blood successor in a generation, that was going to inherit the throne after her. The news came as a surprise, since the queen was not married and had no known stable companion, but she assured them he was of noble descent and that they would wed shortly. The people clapped and cheered, a wave of excitement washing over the masses. The queen waved to them, smiling, and retreated to her room alone._

 _She locked the door and turned to see Xellos lounging on the bed, playing cat's cradle._

" _How long do I have to keep this up?" she asked, dropping the 'nice' façade, a great deal of annoyance dripping from her voice._

" _Oh. come now, I thought you liked the chance of motherhood?" he smiled, pulling the string on his left index finger to his thumb. He was enjoying himself._

" _Don't give me that. I have to pretend to be pregnant every day! It's hard to walk and stand upright with this useless belly, not to mention that I look completely unappealing!" she whined, poking her large belly all the way inside like a balloon._

" _Well, this IS master Zelas' order. Don't worry, I got the short end of the stick being the "father" in this case." Xellos laughed, turning around to sit on the bed._

" _Well, oh father-to-be, what are we going to do when the baby's about to be born? Humans only spend about 9 months in gestation, do they not?" she sassed him, shaking her hips to the side._

 _Xellos scrunched his face in disgust at the idea and stood up on his feet, coming closer to her, his hands still playing with the string subconsciously._

" _Your activity will continue as before. You will still serve Seyruun as its ruler, but you will take on the role of the baby starting at that point" he said, smiling at her._

" _And what are we to do about the mother's body? I can't play both at the same time" she asked, disinterested._

" _Don't worry, that won't be difficult to dispose of, as long as it's public. Leave that part to me. You need to get on to practicing your baby noises" he chuckled, showing her his pentagram-shaped string design, with a tiny heart inside._

* * *

 _They proceeded as planned. The "wedding" was brief and the queen gave birth a few weeks later. The baby was presented to the public right on the day of its birth, shown as a strong and healthy boy with lots of potential._

 _The news was bitter sweet though, as the queen apparently died in labor, leaving the child behind in the care of its father and nurses. The people cheered for the new leader, but cried for their queen._

 _The father-king, a blonde middle aged man, politely refused to take the throne after the queen's departure, choosing instead to raise the child until it was of old enough age to rule on its own._

 _That was, of course, the deception that was being played before the unknowing public. The mazoku hidden among them knew the truth; the baby was the female ruler from before, who shapeshifted into a baby to appear to have been recently born. She was an expert shapeshifter and Zelas trusted her to not break the act by accident, no matter what. Meanwhile, Xellos pretended to be the loving "father", using a form he modeled after Milgazia. He could think of no greater shame for the golden dragon leader than to hear that he was the father of a mazoku baby with itself._

 _He kept the ruse up for many years, taking up the shape every time he showed himself in public. When the "son" was finally ready, Xellos retreated for good and resumed his normal form. It felt refreshing to be himself again. Unlike what some people thought, Xellos didn't like to shapeshift._

 _His purple hair, fox-like eyes, youthful face and mischievous personality were granted to him upon creation and he felt like they were some of the few personal decisions he made about his life, conscious or not._

 _Despite being bound till death to his creator, his master Zelas Metallium, his appearance was his own. He was pleased to introduce himself as the "trickster priest" to friends and foes alike, and to lull people into a sense of comfort around him with his kind smile. It meant they were easier to manipulate._

 _With everyone that knew him well enough gone, bar a few near immortals he was not allowed to see anymore, his disguise was perfect. He only needed to meet people once, and they only needed to be deceived once. None of them became wise to his tricks until it was too late. And unlike Lina, they never got a second chance to be aware of his true nature._

 _It truly was...perfect… wasn't it?_

* * *

Xellos stopped talking for a moment and raised his hand at her, like an elementary schoolboy at his teacher.

She cocked an eyebrow at him and he took this as a nod to say what he wanted.

"Umm, could I take a break? My mouth is rather parched from talking so much" he said meekly.

She felt a vein on her forehead pop at him.

"You just said your body feels nothing, didn't you? That includes thirst. Suck it up!" she answered, crossing her arms in annoyance.

 _What did he think this was, a campfire?_

"Well, I'm pretty much done anyway. There's nothing interesting left for me to say, really" he tried again.

That wasn't true. He was finally getting to the bit that actually mattered the most. He wasn't about to distract her again.

"So, what happened to Seyruun?" she continued.

Xellos shook his head "Well, the same as with everything else, I'd say. The mazoku we placed in power reigned for multiple centuries, changing shape every hundred or so years to appear like a new ruler has been installed. She performed admirably in that role, I must say. But alas, Seyruun wasn't meant to last. Any land that makes its fame on one thing alone can't hope to survive the passage of time. As its holy magic began to dwindle, so did its influence. We did try to keep it going, honestly we did. It wouldn't have been in our favor to destroy a kingdom we tried so hard to conquer, you know. Unfortunately, humans have this nasty little habit of turning against their own kind when things start going sour…"

"What do you mean?"

"In the end, the kingdom had devolved to a rather…unmanageable state. We didn't anticipate the flood of creatures and the instability they brought with them, or the people's reaction to slowly losing their privileged lifestyles. Corruption, bribery, crime…all fine and dandy, until it goes out of control. We had to impose a dictatorship to keep it going. It turned rather…bloody. The last king of Seyruun was dethroned and publicly executed."

"The king, you mean…?"

"Well, it was only for show, of course. After it was all said and done, our mazoku leader retreated back to our base and continues to serve to this very day. The kingdom was divided among the remaining aristocracy and it continued to lose power and relevance as time went on. New countries appear, old ones disappear…it's to be expected. Nothing lasts forever, after all…well, except for us, I guess" he grinned at her his now familiar devilish smile.

Lucy gripped the microphone a little tighter. The recording had been going on for over an hour, she noticed. But she was finally getting what she wanted.

"So, what happened to all the creatures that used to live in this world? Elves, dragons, monsters?"

"Oh, they had to adapt. You see, there was one thing that we weren't counting on as time passed, and that was that humans would develop the technology to dominate the planet. We tried to hinder them, of course, but there was only so much we could do. Humans used weapons that were far superior to most creatures' powers, even dragons, to wipe out everything that stood in their way. The balance of power shifted, and we had to go with the flow. Most monsters that couldn't hide within human society, those that couldn't shapeshift or had special needs went extinct, the rest of us found our own way, without disturbing humanity's sense of superiority. History was re-written with our support to make these creatures out to have been just legends and folk tales, and humans left them well enough alone. "

He wondered what happened to Filia after all this time. Given a dragon's lifespan, she should still be alive somewhere. He was afraid of looking for her, given his master's restrictions. Did she even remember him?

"But what about magic? Why did people give it up?"

"Magic started to become obsolete in the wake of guns and tanks that could be used by everyone, as opposed to a select gifted few. You see, a sage is more powerful than a soldier, but a million soldiers are more useful than a sage. As the great wizards started to fade out, magic users became increasingly weaker. In the end, it became irrelevant, so it was discarded, like primitive technology."

Lucy didn't know how to feel about this. Magic seemed so wonderful; she couldn't believe it would just be forgotten like this.

"Well, if I stand to think about it, it was all for the better. The only thing that could kill us mazoku was magic, after all, and with its disappearance, we have nothing to fear anymore" he opened up one of his eyes to emphasize his words, and Lucy was taken aback by his sharp, feline eye and slit pupil.

It was the first time she saw them properly, and she realized why he never opened them. Those eyes…they looked so inhuman, shining with a purple light that looked more like a fire than a real color. His eyes really didn't belong in this world.

He closed his eye back up soon after, probably realizing she was repulsed, and continued his story.

"We took this opportunity to spread our influence. We went from advisors to leaders. Over time, we specialized in blending in. Since humans couldn't tell us apart, it wasn't very difficult. Mazoku are naturally cunning and versatile, so we quickly gained influence all over the new world."

"Then, the Annual International Affairs congress members...?"

"All mazoku, of course!" he laughed. "I was part of the initial committee to oversee its evolution, but it seems it was successful enough to become a tradition. I'm not the type to bask in the limelight, though, so with my master's permission, I humbly retired from the members group and became just an ordinary participant. I now take part in these events to make sure things are running smoothly for us. I wagered, since it was such a long time ago, it wouldn't make any difference if I really was one of the founding members or not, but I guess SOME people just wouldn't let it go" he put great emphasis on that word, raising his head accusingly. Lucy instinctually backed away a little bit.

' _He can't harm you, he's trapped behind that barrier. You don't have to be scared of him'_ her mind reminded her and she continued the interview.

"You mean to tell me, all the world leaders are mazoku?"

"Well, not ALL of them...there are still a few that are human, but they are under control for the time being. I took care of that."

' _HE took care of it? As in, personally? The entire world?'_

"I suppose I never explained my role in all of this. As you know, my name is Xellos, and I am Lord Beastmaster Zelas Metallium's highest ranking -and only- general-priest." he bowed his head at her, as if he was making a formal introduction.

"General-priest?"

"Ah, that's a story for another day. Suffice to say, I fulfill both military and tactical roles in her name. You could say, I'm a jack of all trades." He smiled proudly. "Of course, the world doesn't use these terms anymore, unfortunately, so I rebranded myself for public occasions. I still prefer the title of 'trickster priest' myself, since it has a nice ring to it and all, but for convenience sake, I use PR Manager on my calling card. It's pretty much the same thing, after all" he chuckled.

"Still, I don't understand how you convinced the entire world to serve you..."

"Oh, that wasn't always easy. I mean, some of them were VERY reluctant to give up their positions of power to us. For example, let me tell you what happened to your countries current president…"


	10. Sit down, mr President

_He entered the white room quietly. The middle aged man behind the desk lifted his gaze to look at him and furrowed his eyebrows. He'd never seen this person before. How did security allow this man in?_

" _How did you get past the guards?" he asked worriedly, putting down his golden pen._

" _Oh, that's of minor importance" Xellos said, walking to a corner of the room and pulling up a chair in front of the president's desk. He sat down and placed his hands and the desk, making sure he was getting his partner's full attention. "What IS important, is: how things are going to go from now on."_

" _First of all, I don't even know who you are" the president replied coldly, looking down at his hands, gesturing for him to remove them immediately._

" _Apologies" Xellos replied, taking out a business card and handing it to him._

" _I go by Nill Gerieben", making sure he stressed out the words 'go by', "and it is my pleasure to finally meet you, mister president. Your predecessor was a fine man, for sure, the first few weeks of adjustment after his term must be hard. Big shoes to fill, after all. Tight race, first term…lots of expectations, am I right?" Xellos joked._

 _The president wasn't amused._

" _I assume you worked for mr. Gallard, then, sir..." he looked down at the card "…Gerieben". Must be of foreign descent. Xellos gestured that it wasn't a problem if he didn't remember the name. He will, soon enough._

" _Indirectly, yes. You see, the vice-president was a close acquaintance of mine. We had many constructive meetings during the past 8 years, but alas, all things eventually change. I'm confident that our relationship will be just as good as with the previous cabinet. For this, I have a couple of people that could be of great use to your team of councilors…"_

" _Thank you for the offer, mr. Gebien" said the president, handing him his card back "but I already have a team plan that doesn't include any of the old, opposing party members. I hope you understand."_

 _Xellos took a hand to his chin and nodded in agreement._

" _I see. And I suppose your decision is final?"_

" _Yes, it is. Now kindly, get out of my office. I have an urgent bill to sign and can't afford to spend too much time on an unscheduled meeting"_

 _Xellos adjusted the seam of his pants, a defeated look on his face. He got up from the chair and extended his arm for a final handshake._

 _The president frowned but decided to end their meeting in a civilized manner and shook his hand._

 _As soon as their hands touched, Xellos clenched his fingers in a crushing hold. The president grunted in pain, trying to free his hand from the deadly grip, but no matter how hard he thrashed, he couldn't pull himself out. Xellos grinned at his squirming, releasing him only when he felt he got his point across._

 _The president nursed his ailing hand. His fingers were all broken and he would need medical care for this. He looked up at the smiling purple haired man in front of him with weary eyes, a pool of fear growing inside him._

" _I guess the bill will have to wait, given the situation. Oh well, I take it now you have some time to spare?"_

" _This is assault! I will have you thrown out and arrested!" the president growled, stepping away from him._

" _I fail to see how you being so brittle is in any way my fault" Xellos excused himself._

" _Attacking the president is a criminal offense of the highest order! You better stay back!" the man insisted, grabbing his desk phone to call security._

 _Xellos waited patiently for him to finish._

 _For a couple of minutes, nobody answered. The president was sure the man before him had disposed of them somehow. Then, after a third call, the familiar voice of one of his personal bodyguards was heard from the other side._

" _Yes, sir, anything the matter?" asked the bodyguard calmly._

" _Hello! This is the president! There is an unknown assailant in my room…I don't know how he bypassed the front desk but..." he stopped talking, probably being interrupted by the man on the other side "...purple hair, yes…"_

" _Do as he says. OR ELSE." came a chilling reply. The bodyguard's tone wasn't one of fear, he noted. It was one of authority. He was ordering him to do it. What was going on?_

" _Well, judging by the look you're giving me, I assume you understand the situation you're in?"_

 _The human continued to stare in shock._

" _Getting back to business, things work like this: you will answer to US, and us only. I represent an organization that reigns far over your own. This country is on our side of the world and if any other representative comes along to try to take over, please give me a call and I will deal with the problem. As with everything else, you will have a PROPER group of councilors to help you with your job." he stressed the term 'proper' for him._

" _You will approve their positions and follow their instructions. Also, you will pass any law congressmen from my group will bring forth. I will mail you a list of duties you will have to fulfill later this week. If you behave and play your role, things will go just as nicely as they did with the previous president" Xellos stated._

" _If not, well, we will have to take more…drastic measures" he opened his eyes and his face turned serious, making sure his companion got his point._

 _The man tried to scream for help, but the mazoku was too fast. He stuck his hand inside his mouth, catching his tongue with his fingers like a pair of pliers. Even though he wasn't squeezing too hard, it still hurt._

" _Now now, none of that, please. Let's be civilized." Xellos smirked, letting go once the human went pale in horror. He wasn't going to try that again, that's for sure._

 _The president backed off covering his mouth, his back against the balcony window. He realized he was being held hostage by a terrorist group. Who knows how many of his team members were traitors?_

 _He turned around and tried to open the balcony door. He had to run away somehow. Xellos lifted his hand and a black mist surrounded the room, covering the walls and windows. The knob wouldn't turn anymore and the windows felt like concrete. He was trapped._

 _He turned back and saw the entrance door was still exposed. He made a break for it, passing by the mazoku who didn't bother chasing after him._

 _The president swung the door open, a feeling of hope and relief washing over him as he saw himself exit his room with the monster staying behind. He needed to get help, fast. He looked around and saw the old cleaning lady mopping the hallway. He ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders._

" _Quick, call the guards! There's a criminal in the building and-" he didn't get to finish his panicked rant as the cleaning lady forcefully removed his hands from her shoulders and kicked him in the stomach with enough force to make him drop to the ground._

 _It felt surreal. The kind, frail old woman that always greeted him meekly every morning had kicked him with incredible strength and was now dragging him back to his cabinet._

 _Her too?_

* * *

 _She dropped him in like a sack and left, locking the door behind her. He coughed a couple of times, pulling himself together and with a few tries managed to prop himself up on his knees. When he finally managed to lift his head, he noticed the stranger was sitting in his armchair, as if they were reversing roles._

" _So glad to see you have returned, mr. President!" the mazoku chimed, fiddling with a paperweight from the desk. "Do you now understand your place in the food chain?"_

 _He did. Much too well, in fact._

 _He went to a cabinet on the side of the room and picked up a loaded gun from inside one of the drawers. He pointed the gun at Xellos, his left hand shaking as he did. He was right handed, so his aim was going to be off._

 _The mazoku seemed unfazed in the slightest, but he did put the paperweight down and shrugged. Why were they always so stubborn?_

" _This is your last chance! I'm warning you!" the president cried, his index finger squeezing the trigger lightly._

 _Still nothing._

 _He fired a couple of shots at his captor. The first 3 missed completely, but the 4th grazed his shoulder and the 5th hit him square between the eyes._

 _The president let down his gun, realizing what he'd done. He had killed an unarmed man in cold blood, regardless of the situation. He felt his head spin; he couldn't believe the man would just let him do it._

 _Still…why was he still standing upright? Shouldn't he have fallen to the ground already?_

 _He heard an evil snicker coming from the man. Impossible…even though he had a clean bullet hole in his head, he still looked and moved like nothing happened._

 _That…that thing wasn't human!_

 _Xellos got up from the seat, walking slowly towards the president, who never took his eyes off of him. The wound closed itself up in a couple of seconds, leaving behind no trace of blood or tissue._

 _What was he going to do?_

 _He panicked, and panicked hard._

 _He lifted his gun again, pointing it at Xellos's face. He had 1 bullet left._

 _The mazoku stopped and shook his head in disappointment._

" _They say that a fool is a man who does the same thing twice, expecting a different result. You should learn to take a hint, my dear leader." Xellos shook his finger at him like he was berating a schoolkid._

 _The president looked down, feeling his nerves getting the better of him. His eyes glazed over and he lifted his gaze to meet Xellos' own._

 _He turned the gun around slowly and without any hesitation pointed it at his own temple. For the first time that day, Xellos' smile dropped._

" _Yes, you're right. I will." he replied as the shot rang out._

 _The blood sprayed on the wall and carpet to his side as he dropped to the floor unceremoniously._

 _Xellos frowned deeply at the fallen man before him. How weak he was. Truly unfit to lead a country._

 _The cleaning lady came into the room upon hearing the noise and took in the sight of the president's remains. She pouted. She was going to have to put in some overtime today._

 _She began disposing of the body and rugs that were soaked in his fluids, making sure to leave no evidence behind._

 _Xellos rubbed his hands in front of his face like he was thinking something over, then called the security guard again._

" _Tell master we're going to need a replacement again"_


	11. See you again soon, my dear

Lucy lowered the microphone, looking away. There was a lot for her to take in. It all felt very bitter and depressing. She really didn't want to accept his story. She wanted to believe, from the bottom of her heart, that he was lying. But she knew that he wasn't.

"This can't be true..." she stammered, her hand shaking as she talked.

' _Even the president?'_

"You mean to tell me all the mazoku in the world are posing as officials they killed?"

"Well, not really. Not all mazoku are made out for such positions, after all. We have varying personalities and talents, just like you. We are given appropriate tasks by our masters and blend in with everyday citizens. For example, there are a couple of mazoku working at your very newspaper."

"…!"

"Off the top of my head, there's Anna the online editor, Bruce from accounting and…one you seem to personally know…I've seen you with him at the conference that day...tall, dark hair? hmm, I forgot the name he goes by…"

' _No…he can't mean Toby, right?'_

"Well, I think you can remind me yourself."

"W…why would you know him?" she asked, sobbing a little. She felt alone and betrayed. People she knew, people she was close to…people she thought were her friends…were all monsters in disguise? When did they replace them? Did they even exist to begin with?

"Ah, he's the one who told me about you. Quite in a lot of detail, actually. You really shouldn't open up to people you don't know too well."

Lucy felt her knees wobble as her reality began to shatter. She really did trust Toby. And he ratted her out just like that. Why...?

Xellos continued undeterred, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

"Truth of the matter is, I wanted us to meet all along. You see, while you were expecting to play a game of cat and mouse with ME, I was doing it too. I guess you never noticed, but I never ran away from you in the first place. I was there, waiting for you to call me. When you seemed demotivated, I left you clues to keep you looking. Even my master found you amusing and ordered me to play along. I'm sure you met her, right?"

Lucy remembered the mysterious woman from the park. Then…that was...?

"...so I followed my orders and came to your summoning ritual."

As he said that, he stood up from the chair, his eyes opening all the way. She felt fear, not just a slight unease like before. True, undiluted fear. His stare was hypnotic, like a snake's.

He snapped his fingers and his clothes morphed to a medieval priest outfit, complete with a black cape and a wooden staff adorned with a large jewel. For the first time, he seemed to be serious with her. She felt like she was losing ground, quick.

' _It's fine. It's fine. He's still stuck inside the spell. He can't harm you'_ she reminded herself again and regained some of her composure.

"You…well, you outplayed yourself! Now you're trapped here for as long as I say!" she pointed at him with confidence, though her heart was racing and she felt very scared.

Xellos closed his eyes and smiled as if she were a silly child. He pointed at the translucent circle around him.

"Oh, you mean this?" he said, pushing through the barrier with his hand and shattering it on impact.

Lucy let out a small yelp and backed up a couple of steps. She suddenly felt very vulnerable and unsure of herself.

"How did you...?" she stuttered, not managing to end her sentence.

"This spell might be used to capture evil creatures, sure, but it can only contain low level mazoku. Not one of my stature, for sure. Still, I congratulate you on managing to use a spell of this difficulty with such little experience! I must say, you have some latent talent in you!" he smiled, clapping at her like she made some sort of impressive achievement.

"Y... you mean…" she felt tears stain her eyes.

"I was never trapped to begin with, yes."

"Then why bother? Why did you stay here? Why did you tell me so many of your secrets?"

He walked towards her slowly, his right hand using the staff like a cane. It seemed to be more for show, since it was the first time she saw him use it. She backed away at the same rate, keeping her distance. He reached her quite quickly and snatched the recorder from her hand.

"Well, my first reason is that, I was feeling quite bored. This little game we played was rather fun. I enjoyed having someone new to talk to. Telling someone about these events felt like getting something off my chest, if you will."

He crushed the recorder in his hand effortlessly and dropped it to the ground. Lucy stared at it in shock, feeling her knees going weak.

"Secondly," he said, opening his eyes once again at her "I'm confident none of it will leave this room"

She realized she was in danger. She felt scared, but mostly angry.

"You…you dare to look down on me? You…how can you stand yourself after everything you did?" she said, clenching her fists. She wasn't going to take this lying down.

"I'm only following orders. It's best not to think about it." he stated simply.

"You have no will of your own! You're nothing but a slave!"

"I prefer you not use such harsh words. My relationship with my master is far more than that. First of all, I'm paid a hefty monthly wager, thank you kindly. Also, while I'm required to follow her command, the way I go about it is my own business. Secondly, I have my own private life, too. I own my own house, my own ceramic plates collection, my own cats…" he listed off his fingers proudly.

"Thirdly, I actually enjoy what I do. It's what I was made for, after all" he finished, smiling again.

"…How many…"

"?"

"How many of you mazoku are out there?" she said, still upset.

"Oh, I'd wager a couple hundred million, maybe more."

"You're immortal, right? How old are you?"

"I was created during the War of the Monsters Fall, so I'd say, about 2322, give or take. But don't go around telling your friends, please. It'd be a damper on my social life" he snickered.

She couldn't even process it at this point. Such an ancient monster she messed with. She had to end this somehow. She had to do something about it. And she had one last resort.

She brought her hands to her chest and closed her eyes. She had memorized the chanting by heart, but this was the first time she tried to do it. It was the only thing she knew that could stop him.

A bright fiery energy sparked inside her for a second, then started gathering in her hands. She opened her eyes, glaring at him with intense hatred.

Xellos raised his eyebrows at her in surprise and waited to see where she was going with this.

The creaking wooden floorboards of the dilapidated building started shaking with power and all the dust on the shelves and furniture started floating in the air, as if moved by a massive indoor hurricane.

Her emotions flooded her, numbing her mind and body as she let out the powerful wave towards him.

"FIRE BALL!" she screamed, the burning energy engulfing the room completely and blowing all the windows off the building.

* * *

She panted heavily, feeling weak.

The entire room was engulfed in smoke, the ashes of the furniture around her giving off a suffocating stench.

She coughed heavily, feeling her lungs fill up with fluid. She dropped to her hands and knees and spat out blood. She looked down at the charred floor, her vision getting foggy. She started crying as she felt completely drained. The spell had taken its toll on her body. It used up all the energy she had inside of her. She felt her heartbeat slow down, her lungs unable to take in air anymore.

She had won though. It was all worth it.

She smiled weakly at the thought and fell on her side limply, tears still falling down her cheeks.

* * *

The smoke started clearing as it left through the now open windows. Xellos walked up to the girl and looked down at her with his expressionless face. She laid on the floor with the spellbook in her bag, her red hair sprawled all over her back. She wasn't going to get up anymore.

He stood there, looking at her body silently for the longest time.

Minutes went by before he finally opened his mouth and started talking to her, even though she wasn't able to hear him at this point.

"I have to say, you took me by surprise with that spell. It was indeed powerful, the most powerful I've seen in centuries. I expected no less from her descendant." he smiled, but he knew it was a bitter smile.

He had realized this from the start. He realized why he wanted to see this girl. Why he felt the need to talk to her and get to know her.

She resembled her quite a bit. From her hair to her eyes to her attitude, she reminded him of her. She was probably never aware of it, since she didn't bear her name. Her genes were probably passed down through her maternal side at some point. She wasn't up to par, but she did have it, she had her spark. The thing he hadn't seen in anyone else in forever.

' _Lina Inverse…'_

His mind raced. So many things came flooding back to him. The times he had spent with Lina still lingered in his mind. He missed them, he truly did. He really did feel like she had left an influence on him. She was the only human he felt had ever mattered on this planet. Her existence had been like a firefly on a pitch black night: brief, but intense, and something that gave him comfort and guidance.

This girl reminded him of something he didn't want to admit for over 1300 years.

He realized that he never wanted to forget Lina, no matter what.

He smiled a genuinely happy smile at this thought.

He picked up the spellbook and put it back in the golden case. He knew he should destroy these since they were strong evidence against his kind, but he didn't want to. He'd rather keep these as a memento of his own past.

He looked down at his costume. The spell ruffed him up a bit and his clothes were dirtied by the soot, but he wasn't hurt. He morphed his clothes to a clean, more pedestrian outfit and started leaving.

He reached the doorframe and turned around to look at her one last time with a soft, unusually kind glint in his eyes.

"Goodbye, my dear reporter. May we meet again somewhere for your next article."


End file.
